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New Ways to Talk About Brands and Service

Everyone has a story. And, more often than

not in today’s retail marketplace, every

brand, product and company has a story,

or at a minimum is searching for a story, that is

designed to connect and resonate with customers

on a deeper level.

As a result, the concept of storytelling—and its

impact on building customer loyalty or increasing

sales—is one of the most-talked about trends in mar-

keting and business today.

“Storytelling is simply a way in which to deliver a

brand’s messages; one of several techniques for doing

so,” Bob Hogan, who heads up the consumer servic-

es group for the advertising agency Triple Threat

Communications, told Vision Monday. “If you can

develop a brand story that is interesting and relevant

to your audience, it can be valuable. However, it

won’t make up for a product or service that isn’t rele-

vant. It’s not a magic bullet for everything.”

Storytelling is not a new or revolutionary idea.

Indeed, the concept of telling a meaningful story has

been around since cavemen painted images on rock

walls to communicate their ideas. More recently, the

“slice of life” TV commercial—which Hogan calls

the “most enduring” TV technique among an array

of options—is essentially storytelling at its basic level.

“It begins with the situation/protagonist setup, intro-

duces conflict (often a problem), introduces the prod-

uct as hero to solve the problem and winds up with a

conflict resolution,” he explained.

The edge that eyecare and other marketers in

health care have is that the topic of health lends itself

naturally to storytelling because it tracks patients and

other stakeholders through a familiar and linear plot:

symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and outcome,

according to Hogan. The mistake that some market-

ers make, Hogan said, is that they get impatient to

“tell you about the products and don’t spend a lot of

time on the story elements, settling for predictable

vignettes and trite resolutions.”

Other experts agree that eyecare should be a natu-

ral backdrop for storytellers to excel.

“It should be easier for vision specialists to

develop stories, since all story elements are there

naturally,” content marketing consultant Bethany

Johnson told Vision Monday. “However, a few bad

experiences can put [customers] on edge, so trust

needs to be rebuilt before a brand can swoop in and

heroically save the day.”

One marketer in the optical space that has been

recognized for its storytelling approach is Warby

Parker. The optical retailer has developed storytell-

ing content that is fun while also “painting the brand

as trendy and chic yet socially conscious,” according

to content marketing firm Oz Content Technologies.

In addition to featuring some of its own employees in

video spots, the retailer also crowdsources content

from its customer base to find real-life examples of

customers trying on glasses.

For an ECP who wants to try storytelling, this

might mean developing a story around the practice’s

long-running effort to address children’s vision issues

by providing eye exams in elementary schools. The

story would highlight the achievements of some of

these “children” after they went on to bigger and

better things either in the community or on a larger

stage, in part because their vision issues were success-

fully addressed early in life. This kind of story goes a

long way to demonstrate a core belief of the practice

and why the ECPs do what they do.

Although there is some doubt about the quantifi-

able aspect of storytelling on a brand’s sales, Johnson

said there are other measures to gauge whether the

storytelling approach has achieved success. “One of

my clients said it best when she said that the purchase

is not the holy grail anymore, it’s the share,” said John-

son, who has worked on campaigns for such brands as

Build-a-Bear, Tom’s of Maine and MasterCard.

“It’s the thumbs-up on social media. It’s the ‘so-and-

so checked in at this location today.’ It’s the storytelling

of friends that a brand should set their sights on. Not

a buy. So does storytelling trigger purchase intent?

No. But it triggers comments, shares and likes, which

are often much more valuable.”

Continued on page 26

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J A N U A R Y 1 6 , 2 0 1 7 V I S I O N M O N D A Y . C O M

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C O V E R T O P I C2 4

CHICAGO—When it comes to companies who

embody the Made in America spirit, STATE Opti-

cal Co. is top of mind. STATE is a collaboration

among husband and wife team, Scott and Amanda

Shapiro, eyewear executive Jerry Wolowicz, entre-

preneurial cousins Marc Franchi and Jason Stanley,

and award-winning designer Blake Kuwahara.

The company’s luxury eyewear collection is one

of a few eyewear brands designed and manufac-

tured exclusively in North America, with an office

and factory headquartered just outside of Chicago.

“The brand is all about storytelling, as it offers us

the chance to communicate intimately about crafts-

manship that takes place right here in our home-

town,” said Scott Shapiro, CEO and co-founder of

STATE Optical Co. “It’s a unique story that few

others can tell. The story started with Marc Franchi

and Jason Stanley, two first cousins who set out to

do what many told them was impossible—craft

high-quality luxury eyewear in the U.S. To do so,

they had to travel the world and literally teach

themselves the entire manufacturing process.”

According to Shapiro, Marc and Jason doubled-

Storytelling, like a lot of good ideas, can be ineffec-

tive “when applied too broadly and without thoughtful

intent,” the retail technology consulting firm Retail-

Next noted. This can lead to increasing “the noise of a

lot stories being told, but precious few being heard.”

Another challenge for marketers who embrace

storytelling is to focus their efforts on the message and

not get caught up in the shiny new elements of the

medium, according to PR firm Edelman.

“In a race to embrace shiny new platforms—which

would supposedly create deeper connections—[mar-

keters have] lost sight of what really matters,” Edel-

man’s Darragh Rea explained in a blog post. “The

results in many cases [are] not deeper connections

but instead temporary interactions, fleeting in nature

and almost certainly not memorable.”

As a primer for building a strong storytelling

approach, Edelman recommends brands “get back to

their core story” and focus on three simple questions:

1. Why do you do what you do?2. How are you different?3. Why do you matter?

“By answering these questions, brands can begin

to refocus on their story and most importantly how it

relates to their core audience,” Rea added. “In a

world where technology has unlocked so many

opportunities, it seems incomprehensible that instead

of communicating what really matters, some brands

are focusing on bland product messages.”

Another source that leads to genuine stories is the

employee base, said Dorothy Wetzel, a former Pfizer

marketing director and founder of the New Jersey-based

agency Extrovertic. “Companies often overlook this very

powerful source of stories. Executives or employees are

the most trusted storytellers when it comes to business

practices, crisis mitigation or industry issues.”

Read on for a sampling of how some eyewear com-

panies and optical retailers have made “storytelling” a

consistent part of their messaging to consumers. n

Continued from page 24




2 6

STATE Optical Co. Weaves ‘Made in America’ Story Through Its Brand

(Clockwise from top left) The STATE logo, intricately

drilled into each temple tip, contains a pyramid of 21

dots because Illinois is the 21st state in The Union and

the frames are produced in Illinois; Seeing the Addison

frame on celebrated trumpeter Marquis Hill, provides

STATE with more opportunity for storytelling and con-

necting with a customer than if the frames were on a

model; STATE is all about craftsmanship and commu-

nicating very personal and intimate stories about how

the frames are made.

New Ways to Talk About Optical Brands

NEW YORK—Moscot’s optical roots were first

planted in America when family patriarch, Hyman

Moscot arrived here at Ellis Island from Eastern

Europe in 1899. Hyman began selling ready-made

eyeglasses from a pushcart on Orchard Street in

Manhattan’s Lower East Side neighborhood. By

1915, Hyman opened the family’s first retail shop,

Moscot’s at 94 Rivington Street.

Fast forward 102 years, and the company has

now had five generations of Moscots behind the

counter. This living history and heritage is inextri-

cably linked to the brand’s personality and is pres-

ent in everything they do.

down on their commitment to this dream when the

two lifetime Californians agreed to uproot their lives

and move their families to Chicago so they could part-

ner with the team at Europa eyewear. In 2014, the

newly formed team began to build its first-of-its kind

factory from the ground up.

More than anything, STATE is about craftsman-

ship. Shapiro said, “Never before in the optical indus-

try has there been a better opportunity for a company

to communicate to patients and customers the craft

and detail that goes into the eyeglasses they wear.

STATE is an attempt to bridge the very large gap that

has for years separated eyewear craftsmen and eye-

wear consumers by communicating very personal and

intimate stories about how the frames are made,

where they’re made, and by whom they’re made.”

Like many companies, STATE offers point-of-pur-

chase materials that include logo blocks, hanging ban-

ners, photos of their craftsmen, and a video highlighting

the manufacturing process. The company also has a

“storytelling” display that shows a brief glimpse into

the three stages of the frames’ production.

There are also great storytelling moments within

the design of the frames, Shapiro noted. The STATE

logo contains a pyramid of 21 dots because Illinois is

the 21st state in The Union and the frames are pro-

duced in Illinois. Those 21 dots are also intricately

drilled into each temple tip. The custom hinge is

designed as a pyramid to match the logo and temple

tip, and each style is named after a street in Chicago.

Shapiro travels the country personally to meet with

the staffs of STATE locations in order to train them

on the details that make the product, and the story

behind it so unique.

“More importantly, we offer a story-telling opportu-

nity that very few companies have offered in

decades—tours of our domestic manufacturing facili-

ty. Everyone is invited to come visit our factory and

see the 75 steps that go into crafting each frame, par-

ticularly eyecare professionals.

“Too many of them have devoted their careers to

working with eyewear and becoming experts in the

field, and yet so few of them have ever seen a pair of Continued on page 30




2 8

For 5 Generations and over 100 years, The Moscot Heritage Story Endures

(Clockwise from top left) Zack and Harvey Moscot; family

patriarch, Hyman Moscot in front of the first store on 94

Rivington Street; the view outside of Moscot’s on 94 Riving-

ton on the Lower East Side of New York City; Harvey and

Zack in front of Moscot’s on Orchard Street.

eyeglass frames being made. That’s a real problem in

our industry,” he said.

Consumers are also invited to tour the facility.

When a patient buys a pair of STATE frames, on the

inside of the case it says, “Come see how your frames

are made.” Customers can go to STATEOpicalCo.

com and make an appointment to tour the factory.

“We’ve found that this story resonates with con-

sumers from every demographic. Even more than in

the past, I think consumers of all ages really care

about the way their products are made, and the story

that goes along with them.

“They expect a deeper connection with the

brands and products they invest in. Particularly in the

eyewear space, consumers are thirsty for an authentic

brand, and what’s more authentic than crafting the

frames with our own hands, in our own backyard,”

Shapiro concluded. n




“It simply cannot be replicated by other brands,

and we do not rest on our laurels. Moscot is living his-

tory and the company continues marking new mile-

stones,” the company said.

While Moscot boasts over a century of business,

they have long attracted free-spirited creatives and

independent thinkers seeking classic, timeless eye-

wear. “We strongly believe in the value of quality

craftsmanship and unparalleled customer service.

Our brand messaging, including our storytelling,

transcends and connects with fans and customers of

all ages, backgrounds and cultures. Moscot is ‘clas-

siconic,’ the conflation of classic and iconic, a term

we coined and trademarked last year,” the company

stated.

The company continues to communicate its rich

history to customers through their frame collections

such as The Moscot Originals Collection. This col-

lection is based on styles from the Moscot family

archives from the 1930s through the 1970s and cel-

ebrates the timeless design from past decades.

The eyewear retains the authenticity of the original

frame styles including period details, traditional hard-

ware and real glass sunglass lenses that duplicate the

old school colors first fabricated by the company in

the 1940s. Additionally, many of The Moscot Origi-

nals Collection frame names pay tribute to Moscot

family members and friends.

Moscot history can also be found on packaging, mar-

keting materials and in the historical family photos on

display in their shops. Customer service and brand

ambassadors often relay the brand story to customers

visiting Moscot shops as well.

This year, Moscot’s marketing initiatives will

integrate the brand’s traditional, grassroots

approach with a digital-driven plan that is both

business and consumer-oriented. The company’s

efforts to grow Moscot’s wholesale business in the

U.S. and abroad, offers stockists and retail partners

a differentiating factor given the brand’s heritage,

quality product and New York City roots, promot-

ing independent eyewear at the highest level, the

company said. n

3 0

Zeiss’ Namesake and Founder Continues To Inspire and Inform Its Customers

STUTTGART, Germany—In 2016, the Zeiss

Group celebrated the 200th birthday of its founder,

Carl Zeiss, and the 170th anniversary of its founding.

Carl Zeiss strived to understand customer needs.

In doing so, he challenged limits in technology and

manufacturing, collaborated closely with academia to

bring innovation to optics and brought an entrepre-

neurial spirit to the company—all of which are essen-

tial to its identity today. The company’s heritage as a

leading optical firm that shaped progress in optics for

generations plays a vital role in its sales and market-

ing activities as well as in its media relations.

“Many consumers remember a ‘Zeiss moment,’

whether it’s a binocular bought by grandparents and

still in use, the moment they benefited from Zeiss

technology—cataract surgery, for example—or in

daily business,” a Zeiss spokesperson noted. “This is

the starting point we use to talk with them about

Zeiss, its heritage and what it means today.”

Every year customers from all over the world visit

Zeiss headquarters in Oberkochen, Germany. They

tour the Zeiss optical museum, where long-time

Zeissians discuss the history of optics, what role Zeiss

played in it and how the company’s contributions

(Clockwise from top) Visitors to Jena, Germany, the birthplace of Carl Zeiss, walking through an exhibit

about his life and times during a celebration of his 200th birthday last year; inside the Zeiss museum in

Oberkochen, Germany; a girl tries out a Zeiss microscope on display at the Jena event.

3 1

lead to the future.

Zeiss also takes its history and museum to events

and optical stores around the world. People see and

hear how Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin used Zeiss

lenses to take photos on the moon. They learn how a

piece of technology produced with Zeiss comes into

their pocket (e.g. an iPhone microchip), or how Zeiss

microscopes helped Nobel Prize laureates make their

breakthrough discoveries. To get close to “the moon

camera” from 1969 or to see the technology used to

manufacture microchips today helps people to get a

bigger, colorful and memorable impression of Zeiss.

Zeiss tells its story online and offline, on social

media and at events, in marketing materials and at

presentations and lectures. “While we adapt the sto-

rytelling to different target groups in style and infor-

mation density, it always remains the one story about

one Zeiss,” the company spokesperson said. n

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Zeiss Inspires and Informs Its Customers

(Clockwise from top) STORY changes like a gallery by updating its themes, design and products every three

to eight weeks, like the Home for Holidays shop; Rachel Shechtman, CEO and founder of STORY, shared

her unique perspectives on the shopping experience during Vision Monday’s Global Leadership Summit last

March; Shechtman and her team are constantly “creating unexpected opportunities” for customers.

NEW YORK—STORY is an award-winning

approach to conventional retailing. At STORY,

“experience” is the currency of a successful opera-

tion and concept.

Rachel Shechtman, CEO and founder of STORY,

the groundbreaking New York-based concept store

known for its ever-changing, editorial approach to

retail, shared her unique perspectives on the shop-

ping experience during Vision Monday’s Global

Leadership Summit last March.

A fourth-generation retailer, Shechtman called

STORY, “a living lab” that is constantly changing, a

“community center” where she and her team are

“creating unexpected opportunities” for customers.

“The process of access and discovery in the physical

world is so important,” she noted.

Shechtman explained that “STORY takes the

viewpoint of a magazine, changes like a gallery by

updating its themes, design and products every

three to eight weeks, and sells things like a store.”

STORY has created dozens of unique retail installa-

tions in partnership with companies such as Intel,

American Express, GE, Target, Lexus and Cigna,

who serve as sponsors for the experience.

STORY, is a 2,000-square-foot shop that gets a com-

plete makeover—with a new design, range of products

and marketing message—every four to eight weeks.

Shechtman stressed that “experience per square

foot is more important than sales per square foot.”

She added that the key to a successful partnership

with her clients is combining “a contextually rele-

vant brand telling stories through a retailer for a con-

Reinventing ‘Retail’ With Each New STORY Experience

textually relevant product.”

Shechtman’s retail philosophy is about “content,

commerce and community.” She agreed that retail-

ing “is not just about selling things, it’s about expe-

rience. Experience sells things, not the place. If

you’re not actively trying to open their pocketbook

and you give them an experience you will have

mind-blowing results.” n


NEW YORK—Cohen’s Fashion Optical’s story

is based on 90 years of history. Founded by Jack

Cohen in 1927, the store started as a small push-

cart business, selling ready-made glasses to

New York City’s Orchard street merchants.

As the demand for eyeglasses grew, the family

outgrew the pushcart business and went on to

open their first retail optical shop on the corner

of Orchard and Delancey streets, on the Lower

East Side. After Jack Cohen decided that eye-

wear should also be fashionable, the company

began hand-dying the eyeglass frames in differ-

ent colors and according to the company,

Cohen’s then became the first optical retailer to

sell fashion eyewear in New York City.

Ninety years and over 100 stores later,

Cohen’s has remained true to its philosophy

while also catering to all generations of eyeglass

wearers. “Different age groups respond to mar-

keting messages differently,” stated the compa-

ny’s chief marketing officer, Sheila Haile. “We

tailor the message and the medium to the audi-

ence. Everyone brings a different set of expec-

tations to their interaction with the brand, so we

focus on meeting the expectations of each audi-

ence first, then focus on where and how a par-

ticular audience prefers their messaging.”

In keeping up with the Millennial generation

of buyers, Cohen’s remodeled its original Lower

East Side store in May of 2016. Adding a new

façade, custom fixtures, lighting, tables, dis-

plays and furnishings, the Orchard and Delanc-

ey location created an environment that encour-

aged interaction with product.

To mark the event, the reopening of the store

was accompanied by an in-house collection—

The Collective—inspired by Cohen’s very first

frame and designed for young adults, college

students and emerging professionals in need of

prescription eyewear.




3 2

Cohen’s Adheres to Its Fashion Philosophy for Over 90 Years

(Clockwise from top left) Cohen’s remodeled their original store, replicating the original exterior Cohen’s

Fashion Optical sign; the company’s booth at iHeart Radio’s social activation event was the perfect mock

subway station; nothing says Empire State more than your own street sign—Statue of Liberty and all.

Cohen’s Fashion Optical has also made

charity a part of their story. In December of

2016, the company worked with iHeart Radio

on a social activation campaign that included

a booth at the iHeart Radio Gift Giving event

at One World Trade Center. The campaign

included a custom snapchat filter, blog posts

social media ads, as well as custom radio

spots. The company also donated gifts to the

Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at

Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in

New Jersey. n

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